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Duration Analysis, which allows the timing of an event to be explored in a dynamic framework, is used to model the adoption of organic horticultural technology in the UK. The influence of a range of economic and non-economic determinants is explored using discrete time models. The empirical results highlight the importance of gender, attitudes to the environment and information networks, as well as systematic effects that influence the adoption decision over the lifetime of the producer and over the survey period.

The determinants of the decision to adopt organic production techniques are examined by applying binomial and multinomial logit techniques to a sample of 237 horticultural producers from the UK. The analysis indicates that organic horticultural producers are more likely to be younger, run smaller enterprises and be female than their conventional counterparts, and that there are significant non‐economic aspects to the decision to adopt organic techniques which may be missed in comparative profitability studies. In addition, the analysis indicates that the registered and unregistered organic producers should not be regarded as a homogenous group, with significant differences in terms of the influence of gender and information sources observed.